“Davie,” said Donal with solemnity, “I would not give such a promise for the castle and all it contains—no, not to save your life and the life of everybody in it! For Jesus says, ‘Whosoever denieth me before men, him will I deny before my father in heaven;’ and rather than that, I would jump from the top of the castle. Why, Davie! would a man deny his own father or mother?”
“I don’t know,” answered Davie; “I don’t remember my mother.”
“I’ll tell you what,” said Donal, with sudden inspiration: “I will promise not to speak about God at any other time, if she will promise to sit by when I do speak of him—say once a week.—Perhaps we shall do what he tells us all the better that we don’t talk so much about him!”
“Oh, thank you, Mr. Grant!—I will tell her,” cried Davie, jumping up relieved. “Oh, thank you, Mr. Grant!” he repeated; “I could not bear you to go away. I should never stop crying if you did. And you won’t say any wicked things, will you? for Arkie reads her Bible every day.”
“So do I, Davie.”
“Do you?” returned Davie, “I’ll tell her that too, and then she will see she must have been mistaken.”
He hurried to his cousin with Donal’s suggestion.
It threw her into no small perplexity—first from doubt as to the propriety of the thing proposed, next because of the awkwardness of it, then from a sudden fear lest his specious tongue should lead herself into the bypaths of doubt, and to the castle of Giant Despair—at which, indeed, it was a gracious wonder she had not arrived ere now. What if she should be persuaded of things which it was impossible to believe and be saved! She did not see that such belief as she desired to have was in itself essential damnation. For what can there be in heaven or earth for a soul that believes in an unjust God? To rejoice in such a belief would be to be a devil, and to believe what cannot be rejoiced in, is misery. No doubt a man may not see the true nature of the things he thinks he believes, but that cannot save him from the loss of not knowing God, whom to know is alone eternal life; for who can know him that believes evil things of him? That many a good man does believe such things, only argues his heart not yet one towards him. To make his belief possible he must dwell on the good things he has learned about God, and not think about the bad things.
And what would Sophia say? Lady Arctura would have sped to her friend for counsel before giving any answer to the audacious proposal, but she was just then from home for a fortnight, and she must resolve without her! She reflected also that she had not yet anything sufficiently definite to say to her uncle about the young man’s false doctrine; and, for herself, concluded that, as she was well grounded for argument, knowing thoroughly the Shorter Catechism with the proofs from scripture of every doctrine it contained, it was foolish to fear anything from one who went in the strength of his own ignorant and presumptuous will, regardless of the opinions of the fathers of the church, and accepting only such things as were pleasing to his unregenerate nature.
But she hesitated; and after waiting for a week without receiving any answer to his proposal, Donal said to Davie,